Love From Afar
by witchintraining
Summary: Lucius has self control and realistic views toward his relationship with his mate, but loves him none the less. My take on Veela!Lucius. HarryLucius SLASH!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N My take on Veela!Lucius. I felt like posting and I had this knocking around. Enjoy.**

The first thing Lucius Malfoy did when he returned to his ancestral home after having imprisoned in Azkaban was to strip off the robes he was wearing and burn them. Next he had a very hot shower and spent a while removing the grime and filth from his hair and skin before settling in his large bath to relax properly for the first time in over a year.

After his luxurious soak he dried himself and dressed in simple but beautiful robes of a very dark green and carefully arranged his hair in his desired style. He then spent several moments examining his wand for any contaminations. He hated that the guards at Azkaban had kept it as if it were any other wand, as if he was any other prisoner. He was a very powerful wizard and this was a very powerful wand after all.

Once Lucius was certain that everything with himself and his wand was in order, he went to visit his wife in her rooms. Narcissa and he had had separate rooms since around the time Draco had been born, as they no longer needed to sleep together and had no further desire to. Narcissa had produced a magical, male child for the Malfoy line, fulfilling the only magically binding part of the contract that was their marriage. Although Lucius did not desire Narcissa he did deeply care for her and truly loved her for providing him with Draco, the most precious thing in his world.

They spoke for a reasonable long period of time, mainly on political topics and how the Dark Lord was likely to proceed in the coming year. Narcissa emphasised how worried she was for her sister Bellatrix; how she was finally regaining her sanity but seemed to think that she seemed less loyal to their Lord without it and how she longed to provide her husband and her Lord with a child but was scared that she might not be able to. Lucius noted this and resolved to ask Severus to look into viable fertility Potions for his sister-in-law to help continue the bloodline, especially since he felt that it was almost certain that Draco would remain the sole Malfoy child of his generation.

His mind on these things, Lucius then moved to his office where he wrote letters to Draco and Severus. He pored over them to get the wording just write to convey his message appropriately, spending almost an hour before he was satisfied and sent them with his beautiful eagle owl. Lucius stood at his window and watched his bird fly away, and then the empty sky, for quite a while before returning to his desk and the paper work that was awaiting his perusal. The topics ranged from investments to the Dark Lord, and he buried himself in the papers, appreciating the fact that he was back in his office rather than his old cell in Azkaban.

By the time Lucius was satisfied that he had done all that really needed to be done that day it was practically dinnertime and he removed himself to his rooms to freshen for a formal dinner with his wife. They ate in companionable silence in the family dining room, all topics of conversation having been exhausted during their earlier conversation but either of them feeling uncomfortable y this fact. Lucius savoured eating proper food once more but wished he could allow himself to eat the richer food his wife was eating. However it was clear to Lucius that going from prison food to richest oysters wasn't a good idea. He decided to just savour them all the more when he could next eat them.

It was only after these things and dinner that Lucius moved toward the other side of the manor where a room that he rarely visited beckoned to him.

It was a small room, with the only pieces of furniture being an armchair, a small table and a rug. There wasn't a fireplace as the room was too small and out of the way for the inconvenience.

The walls were covered in pictures, most of which surprisingly did not move. There was a mix of sketches and photos; the photos came mainly from a Muggle camera or frozen from a Daily Prophet article while the sketches were either from memory, imagination or from one of the photos, but not all of them were completed. Some were in colour, some black and white, some with only a form and no detail. One of Lucius' favourites was simply a pair of powerful, vibrant eyes, while one of his favourite photos was of a person, tiny and far away in the photo, gazing across a lake.

Lucius sat in the chair and breathed deeply, letting his mind consume him as he gazed at the images before him, idly sipping a Scotch.

He had not been there nearly as long as he had wanted to before he forcibly snapped himself out of his melancholy dreaming about the perfect figure pictured before him. He withdrew a knife from his robes and, with an ease that comes from years of practice, sliced open his palm and allowed a drop of his blood onto this months' item; which was a formerly screwed up piece of parchment with ruined Transfiguration notes written on it, along with a short conversation with the person the author had been sitting next to and some interesting if abstract doodles in the margin.

As the blood touched the parchment Lucius waved his wand over the two, irreversibly linking the magic of the author imbued in the parchment with the magic of his blood. As the blood was absorbed Lucius began to speak a long incantation that he had long ago learned by heart, the most ancient magic he could find in his ancestral library. He finished with healing his palm, which was then pressed to the parchment. He ended by speaking softly and clearly the words he had chosen himself to close the spell.

'With this heart I love of you completely, and with this body I freely sacrifice myself to your continued life, and with this blood I implement my chosen sacrifice. With this blood of my veins, freely given of ancient and powerful line, and through my love and devotion, and reaffirm my former declaration and so regenerate the protection I call into being. And through this promise and sacrifice and love none shall do you, my mate and my only, love of love, any harm. So it will be and so it is.'

The golden light that filled the room was purely for effect but it always warmed Lucius deep in his heart to know that his mate was freshly protected. It faded quickly but the deeply happy and satisfied feeling of giving his all and loving as fully as possible stayed.

His Lord could try whatever he wanted, but Lucius was confident that no harm would befall his mate now. While his Master's Dark Arts had eventually been able to counter the blood protection Lily Evans had evoked through her sacrifice, Lucius knew that willing, passionate blood sacrifice would protect his mate even more fully. While Lucius had not been required to give his life the deep enchantment worked off the deep desire to do, to take whatever was necessary, even Lucius' own life, and Lucius further knew the benefits of a conscious and long thought out decision compared to that of Lily's desperate action. Including the fact that Lucius was still alive and magically active, and Lucius was under no illusions as to the guarantee of Harry Potter's safety.

The Dark Lord would not be touching his mate.

Lucius spent a little while longer observing the pictures and photos of Harry. The Veela yearned for his mate but Lucius was astute enough to realize that it was very likely he would never have more of his mate than this small room. Lucius knew he would never approach Harry while the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters were still an active part of the Wizarding World, and probably not even after that. For although Lucius and his Veela was deeply in love, Harry had no obligation to be a part of Lucius' life, and Lucius would never wish to impose himself where he was not wanted.

Of course there were always Lucius' contemplations and fantasies of wooing his mate, carefully crafted scenarios that he spent moments, lifetimes, dreaming within.

But when Lucius finally let the small shrine to his mate he knew that fantasies were really all they would ever be. He was resigned to the fact, and after seventeen years of celibacy Lucius was content to do what he could for his Harry from afar.

**A/NPlease let me know what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Yes, I have decided to update this and turn it into a proper fic, so I need to clear up some facts about continuity that did not really affect the first chapter. Firstly, this fic is set in Harry's seventh year. The first chapter took place right before the end of sixth year, which was why Draco was still at school. This chapter takes place at the beginning of seventh year, so Harry and Draco have just turned 17 recently, whereas Hermione will be nearly 18.**

**HBP spoilers-- in this fic pretty much everything that happened at the end of canon did happen, but didn't have anything to do with Draco, who is not yet a Death Eater and is as such returning to Hogwarts.**

_1st September 1997_

Draco cast a sad look at his father as he stood on Platform 9 ¾ for the last time—Lucius was trying to be a good father, a good Malfoy and a dignified Death Eater all at the same time as being distracted by the potential of Harry Potter to be here. Draco couldn't blame his father; Draco himself was immensely glad he didn't show any signs of carrying an active Veela gene as of yet.

It must be hell.

He boarded the train, waved to his father who Apparated away as soon as the train was moving. Draco found the compartment with Blaise in it, holding tightly onto his wand all the time. Everyone knew that after last summer no Slytherin would be totally safe.

Slowly, more of Draco's friends joined them in the carriage: Pansy, Theodore, Greg, Millicent, Vince. They sat mainly in silence, which was better than the attempt to make conversation that wasn't painful or awkward.

For the first time, Draco did not wish to go looking for the Boy Wonder, even if it meant he would have less to tell his father. He was going to be selfish this time, because, as much as his father yearned for him, Draco didn't particularly have a death wish. Potter could wait.

When they got to Hogwarts Draco carefully manouvered a carriage without coming into contact with any angry Hufflepuffs or vicious Gryffindors and the Slytherin seventh years shifted nervously.

'Who got Head Boy?' Goyle asked quietly, unsure if anybody would want to answer him.

'Potter, of course.' Pansy spoke quickly and slightly sharply. 'Granger got Head Girl too, so no surprises there.'

Goyle nodded hesitantly, wondering if that was to be the extent of the conversation.

It was, as the friends didn't talk again until they were seated in the hall.

Unlike other years the Hall was not filled with many happy children catching up with each others' summer holidays while waiting for the feast. The loss of Dumbledore and the lack of Snape's presence hit hard throughout the hall and everything was muffled. Even the traditionally boisterous Sorting ceremony was only accompanied by stilted applause.

The feast itself was loud but not from loud voices; instead it was full of whispers and lowered voices, murmurs from people who did not want to break the hum of noise that had built up. It seemed to drag on and on for Draco, sitting in near silence broken only by forced small talk that was worse than the silences had been. The Slytherin table as a whole seemed to jump between making little to no sound at all to obnoxious rackets and back again, and this nervousness really got to Draco.

By the time the feast was over he was desperate to get away, and practically ran from the Hall as soon as was allowed. He didn't stop fidgeting even when he was alone in his bed behind the drawn green curtains. The feeling of nervousness that had been plaguing them all was now manifesting in Draco as more of a nagging sensation that there was something he didn't know, something he should know but had missed.

It took him a long time to get to sleep, and longer still for him to find some peace.

* * *

_2nd September 1997_

The seventh year Slytherins entered the Great hall en masse for the first breakfast; it was a tradition left over from when they were first years and were terrified of getting lost so travelled in pack format. Somehow it had stuck, and since it was their last first breakfast they wanted to make the most of it and relive each and every tradition that they could.

Draco could tell straight away that something was up.

People going between the house tables, looking curious and grave.

Moreover, no one was speaking to the Slytherins, who were looking confused and rather annoyed. Although traditionally Slytherin house was quite separated from the rest of the school, in reality they got on pretty well with most Ravenclaws and the older pureblooded Hufflepuffs. They talked often enough and simply weren't used to the idea that their entire house was being cut out of the gossip loop.

Draco also noticed a huge number of Gryffindors either looking or plain out-and-out glaring at the Slytherins in general and him in particular.

Automatically he searched for the bright green eyes he expected to be on him, but Potter wasn't there yet. Neither were Weasley or Granger, but that wasn't so odd; they were probably waiting for Potter to drag himself out of bed.

'What's going on?' Pansy asked as they sat down. 'No one even has the paper yet.'

They shared blank looks.

'Oi Lawrence!' Thomas said, grabbing the shoulder of a passing Ravenclaw. Lawrence was a fifth year who had just been made a prefect. 'What's going on, huh?'

Draco found it slightly disconcerting to see Lawrence's face still so suddenly as he closed up completely.

'Nothing's going on,' he said tightly. 'Enjoy your breakfast.'

Draco would have gaped but that would have been unsightly. Karl Lawrence had always been a firm believer that house unity was not 'Let's unite against the Slytherins' as some Gryffindors seemed to think but actually meant 'Always endeavour to include Slytherins'. Yet he was… refusing to talk to them?

Theo grabbed his shoulder again, slightly harder than before, and leaned in against him.

'Something is clearly going on,' he murmured quietly. 'What is it?'

Karl's eyes slid from Theo to Draco to the Slytherin House crest on his robes.

'Enjoy your breakfast,' he repeated stiffly before walking back to his seat at the Ravenclaw table. Draco watched as Lawrence whispered something to a sixth year girl who then stood up and walked toward the Gryffindor table where she spoke to Ginny Weasley.

Ginny turned her head and glared at Draco, as if to confirm that they were talking about him.

'Has the Weaslette been crying?' asked Millicent. Draco mentally kicked himself; he should have noticed that first. Though she was looking determined there was still a redness around her eyes, which, against her pale skin, stood out so it could be seen even across the large hall.

'Something is definitely going on,' Pansy murmured in agreement.

The Slytherin seventh years sat in silence, eating sparsely and sipping from their goblets contemplatively. Even Crabbe and Goyle ate with more care than usual.

'We should just ask,' Millicent concluded the unspoken debate that had taken place. Theo nodded and Pansy looked to Draco for his agreement.

'Fine.' Draco smoothed his robes down as he stood up. 'Let's go then.'

Draco led Crabbe and Goyle over to the small gathering that had formed around the Gryffindor table and Ginny Weasley in particular. Draco pretended that he didn't notice that people stilled and stopped talking as they approached, until eventually Neville Longbottom, who was facing Ginny and didn't notice their arrival, was the only one still talking in the Hall.

'- do you know? I mean, what if…' he trailed off, finally realising that the people around him were stoic and silent.

'What's going on?' Draco asked, honey coated voice barely disguising the threat behind his words.

Ginny Weasley sized him up before smiling and shaking her head.

'Isn't it perfectly obvious?' she murmured.

Longbottom glared at Draco.

'Get lost, Malfoy,' he said sharply.

Draco cocked an eyebrow.

'Three whole words without a stutter, Longbottom. Very impressive eloquence there.' He turned back to the Weaslette.

'Well, it's rather to miss, isn't it?' Her voice was much older than he remembered. 'In case you haven't noticed Malfoy…' she trailed of, making a tantalising eye contact with him before continuing, 'Harry isn't here.'

Draco's first thought was, _I did notice that_. He allowed a smirk to stretch over his lips as he turned away, even as his second and third thoughts left his mind reeling.

_Potter isn't at Hogwarts… Voldemort must have Potter… Potter isn't at Hogwarts…_

Which consolidated into one ice clear thought in his mind.

_I have to tell my father.

* * *

_

Lucius' eyes got wider and wider as he read his son's short letter, and finally sat down hard. His heart was beating frantically and his mind was racing; Harry, his Harry, was gone. Missing. Unless the Light was making a huge bluff, they didn't know where he was.

That could only mean one thing.

Voldemort had Harry.

The glass of white wine he had been sipping from abruptly shattered.

Voldemort had his mate.

Lucius considered suddenly what could happen if Voldemort had found a way around the blood protection, and managed to kill Harry. It was impossible to break through, he was almost positive, but what… what if there was something he hadn't thought of? Some way to get around the spell? This was the Dark Lord after all; he had studied and mastered magical arts Lucius hadn't even heard of. He was so much more than a match for Lucius.

What if Harry died?

Lucius closed his eyes against the flood of images that came to mind.

Harry dead, the Dark Lord standing over him triumphantly.

Voldemort desecrating Harry's body.

Pretending to be a loyal Death Eater, surrounded all the while by people overjoyed about the murder of his Harry.

Living out the rest of his life alone, pining for his mate.

Slowly fading away when he had competed everything and was free to mourn for Harry.

Lucius eyes snapped open.

If the Dark Lord did have Harry, what was he doing with him? Lucius had not heard any word and had been called to the Dark Lord's side only a handful of times since being released from gaol. He was not Voldemort's favourite anymore; the fickle Dark Lord was busy with Snape, the only Death Eater not to fail him. But surely he would be sent for to witness Harry's destruction…? Voldemort would want as many Death Eaters as possible to watch that spectacle.

But if Harry had not been killed yet…

That meant that Voldemort must have some purpose for keeping Harry alive.

Was there some horrible Dark Ritual that he had discovered? Some terrifying sacrifice, or worse, perhaps the brain washing of Harry?

More horrific images filled his head, but this time Lucius did not succumb to the terror and frantic disgust at the ideas that he had conjured.

Instead, his mind filled with just one thought.

_I have to protect him_.

But how? The blood protection was the only thing he had- the most powerful magic in the world, a voice in his head reminded him. But he shouldn't, couldn't just assume that.

He had seen the Dark Lord in action.

However, he soon realised, with a sense of dread, that there was nothing more he could really do.

In regard to his mate, he would just have to wait and see.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Yes, Chapter Three is here! Yayness! This one is very short, but fits together with the next one nicely. I was quite surprised at the number of people who asked me what had happened to Harry in their reviews at the end of the last chapter, and whether he had been kidnapped. Although I admit that would be an interesting twist for the fic, that is NOT what has happened to Harry, not in the least. If you haven't read HBP, (and why not?) then THIS chapter doesn't really contain any spoilers, but Four and Five are full of them, and also if you haven't read it you just won't get where Harry was. If you have read HBP, it should be kinda obvious why he disappeared. I reiterate that this fic works with the most important parts of HBP, except for the Draco plot line, which I admit is kinda important, but whatever. On with the fic!**

_20th June 1998_

_09:14 am_

They didn't speak to each other; they barely spoke at all, and the Ancient Greek words that they did say were memorised with absolute precision and whispered with clarity and determination, three wands forming a triangle that surrounded the house. The magic was swift and powerful, hanging thickly and tangibly like a huge spider web for only a moment before dissapearing from non-magical detection.

Harry barely paused to think as he grabbed his pack and settled onto his broom. After all, the time for thinking and planning was all but over. Now, today, had to be the time for doing.

_09:17am_

The smoke started just like steam, rising slowly and lazily in a wavering line. Quickly though the bomb opened out and started spewing thick black clouds which spread and multiplied. Soon the whole area for a good 200m around was thick and dark.

In six other places thrroughout the valley other super strong smoke bombs went off.

Harry held a hand up in front of his face, perhaps a foot away. He couldn't see it, which was the idea. He tapped his glasses and mutered, 'Videns Bene' and waited patiently while his vision cleared. Once he could see well again he took a deep breath and looked down at the house he was hovering over, still wrapped in his now pretty redundant invisiblity cloak. As he took it off and put it back in his small pack, Harry looked back at the forest that he, Hermione and Ron had been living in for the past eleven days. He didn't feel sentimental toward it, but it had been an important part of the end of this particular part of his life.

He hoped that this plan would work. It had to. Not because everything in the plan was perfect; unfortunately everything wasn't perfect. There were plenty of things that could go horribly wrong. And not because he was Harry Potter and stuff went well for him. The last year had certainly proven that wrong.

But it would work, because if it didn't Harry wasn't sure what he would do next. He was tired, deep inside, and this last year had taken so much out of him, out of all of them.

Now, today, it had to end.

Harry turned his broom toward the rickety house and began to decend toward it, carefully hidden behind the screen of smoke from the remaining five smoke bombs on the ground. As he flew in a carefully planned arc he set off another two of the levitated smoke bombs before landing precariously on the roof.

'Well, here goes nothing,' he murmured to himself, and with that activated the Portkey that should –would, damnit, would- take him to Hermione and Ron inside the building.

_10:51 am_

Suddenly Harry could hear again. The utter silence of the room compared to the buzzing of magic that had ended so abruptly, and beyond that the shouts of the rest of the battle that he had somehow become separate from.

He glanced around the still room once more before leaving. He broke into a run in the corridor, trying to get to the fight before it went very badly wrong.

When he broke into the room where the shouts had become screams however, he wondered if he was really necessary.

Hermione and Ron were standing in the middle of the room, back to back defensively and out of breath. The only other person in the room was Snape, standing awkardly and cradling his left arm against his chest.

Surrounding them were the corpses of Death Eaters, at least twenty of them. Clearly dead.

'What happened?' he asked sharply.

'They just collapsed, one by one,' Ron shook his head. 'Cept Snape, and he only turned up a couple of seconds before you did.'

Hermione turned to Harry, leaving Ron with his wand on the disarmed Snape.

'Is he… Did it… Is it over?' she asked quietly, almost afraid of the answer.

Harry smiled tiredly.

'Yeah. Yeah, it is.'

There was a crash from the right, and a door openned suddenly, sharply drawing the attention of all the parties in the room.

Lucius Malfoy practically fell into the room, a haried and desperate look on his face. He froze as he took in the scene, his eyes finally resting on Harry.

Harry made a curious eye contact with Lucius, but fainted dead away before any words could be exchanged.

**A/N I spent a lot of time figuring out exactly what to put in this chapter as clearly it is very short and there are huge gaps in the narrative. I did plan for this chapter to be longer and include more of the action that was so clearly cut out. However, I did eventually settled on this as it mentions the more important things without putting in too much of what I felt was excess action, and also I did not want to be repeating myself too much since a lot of the goings on in this chapter will come up in conversation later on and particularly during Chapter Five.**

**The times are pretty irrelevant for this chapter on its on, but I included them so it is more clear how it fits in with Chapter Four, which is much longer and is all about what Lucius was doing while all this was going on…**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N Yep, Chapter Four is here, and with it Lucius' point of view on the events of last chapter. There are still some big gaps in what has happened, but these are harped on about in Chapter Five, so I hope you can wait a little longer before I explain _exactly_ has been going on. This is thankfully a much longer chapter than its predecessors so please please review and tell me what you think!**

**This also contains HBP SPOILERS of a major nature. If you haven't read the sixth book and don't want it spoiled, don't read this chapter. For all the rest of you, enjoy!**

_20th June 1998_

_01:17 am_

Lucius woke up suddenly, the mark on his left arm burning sharply and painfully. He grabbed his wand and held it against the brand for a moment, sending a pulse of submission and agreement back to his Lord, and then groaned when the pain in his arm tapered off a little.

He dressed in the heavy black robes and mask before Apparating to the gates of Malfoy Manor. He didn't pause to tell Narcissa; she needed her sleep and would be able to tell exactly where he had gone simply by checking his wardrobe.

The wards around Malfoy Manor allowed the people keyed into them –Lucius, Draco and Narcissa- to Apparate freely within them, but did not allow anyone to Apparate either out or into them without first pausing to walk through the grand gates. Once on the other side Lucius hesitated briefly to collect himself before Apparating to the Dark Lord's travel room.

He walked briskly to the throne room, waiting less than a moment in the parlour outside to breathe before entering.

He was not first; Snape and Bellatrix were already there, standing stiffly on separate sides of the room and not making any attempt to hide their animosity toward each other.

Lucius nodded to each of them, hoping his revulsion showed as nothing more than the usual hate. Bellatrix had been slowly regaining her sanity and with it seemed to permanently belittling Lucius to the other Death Eaters and to the Dark Lord himself. This seemed to be Bellatrix's attempt to stay high after being spectacularly ousted from the place of favoured Death Eater by none other than Severus. Bellatrix had tried to recover her place at the Dark Lord's right hand several times but had failed each time; it would seem that for now Severus was regarded in a different light to all the other Death Eaters. Bellatrix and Lucius' rivalry had started long before the fall of the Dark Lord, stemming from Lucius' dislike of her impulsiveness, and had only grown when she had gone to Azkaban while he slid smoothly back into society.

Severus was different. He had come to the Dark Lord later than Lucius or MacNair, only a couple of years before Voldemort had fallen and had always rather… odd. He did not always participate in raids or Revel and had somehow explained this to the Dark Lord adequately as to be excused from most of them. Yet when he did attend he was vicious and sadistic, beaten only by MacNair and the Dark Lord himself.

Lucius had done his best to befriend Severus but was always plagued with a general feeling of not knowing very much about Severus- and only that which Snape had decided to allow him to know. Other than Snape's clear desire for knowledge and the opportunity to use the power he had- and it was a lot, Lucius knew- he could not really understand why it was that Severus was quite _so_ adoring of Voldemort.

Some of the sides to Severus were very good. He was interesting certainly with a wicked sense of humour and a truly excellent mind. He was godfather to Draco and had always been a good chess opponent or Lucius.

But some of the sides of Severus were baffling. How he could stand to work around the Light and yet remain so deeply and viciously ensconced in the Dark. Why he seemed to like nothing better than to be alone in a room, left to chop and slice and stir cauldrons of different Potions. Why he was so attached to the Dark Lord.

Since he had killed Dumbledore, around a year ago now, he had become much closer to the Dark Lord than any other servant had ever been, and he had changed. He was unpredictable, snide and vicious, and he told the Dark Lord everything.

In particular, everything about he hated about Harry Potter.

This was the topic that had really ended Lucius' friendship with Severus. Though no one outside of the immediate Malfoy family knew that Harry was significant to Lucius he still rather queasy at some of the suggestions Severus made to the Dark Lord about him. Ways to trick him, ways to manipulate him. Ways to kill him.

Lucius had pulled away from Severus after Dumbledore's death and his own subsequent release from gaol, citing jealousy of Snape's favour with the Dark Lord to the other Death Eaters as to why they were not close friends any longer.

The other Death Eaters were much the same to Lucius, but these two and Pettrigrew stood out, perhaps because they were all overly close to the Dark Lord. Or perhaps it was because they were so different from the other Death Eaters; the only female, the only Gryffindor, the only half-blood.

The meeting was very standard until the end when he, Bellatrix, Avery and of course Snape were asked to stay behind when the others were all dismissed.

'I have some very interesting news, but I am only sharing it with you as you each have something special that I wish you to do for me.' Voldemort smiled slightly, his serpentine face twisting. 'Fenrir has reported that one of his werewolves nearly caught a Mudblood girl in the forest a matter of hours ago. From her description, I believe it to be Hermione Granger.'

Snape sneered but stayed silent as Voldemort continued talking.

'There are two main scenarios. Firstly, that she is travelling with Ronald Weasley and the two of them are searching for our missing friend, Harry Potter. Or secondly, and more likely, she is travelling with Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter. In which case he is somewhere in the forest.'

The Dark Lord to look around at them briefly.

'This is what I want you to do. Lucius, Bella and Avery- I want you to take a werewolf each and comb the entire forest from the North, East and West respectively. Ever inch. I want anyone and everyone in that forest found and I Potter is amongst them he is to be brought to directly.' He turned to Snape and said only, 'Severus, you know what I wish of you.'

'Yes, of course, My Lord.' Severus bowed and the other three Death Eaters hurried to do the same, bowing and saying, 'Yes, My Lord,' quietly before departing.

_02:30am_

Lucius swore as he led his pathetic excuse for a werewolf through another thick patch of undergrowth and a thorn from a thistle made a small tear in his robes. He repaired them quickly enough with a jerky movement o his wand but he had never really been very good at charming clothing and he knew that the robes would not really be the same again.

He had checked in with Avery and Bellatrix around an hour before; neither of them had found anyone or anything in this huge and godforsaken forest, and both were similarly tired and irritated. Lucius starting to think that, considering the speed he was going at and the vastness of the forest, that he would be there all night.

The worst part of trooping through the forest with a stupid werewolf of all things was the monotony of it, and how this allowed Lucius' mind to wander. He tried to keep his thought away from what could happen to his mate if Harry was indeed in this forest, but his thoughts always returned to the possibility of seeing Harry again after so long- and the possibility of watching his demise. In particular, Lucius kept fixating on whatever it was that Snape had been ordered to do. It had to have something to do with the possibility of Harry being captured, but what? Was Snape to prepare to conduct some sort of Dark Ritual? Or maybe they had found some Dark Potion to which to add Harry's blood. Worse, maybe Snape was going to use Harry's hair in a Polyjuice potion and then infiltrate the Light and Hogwarts. Or perhaps it was simply that the Dark Lord had allowed Snape a special part to play in Harry's death and Snape needed to prepare some special daggers…

The thought kept coming and even the thought of blood protection, blood protection, blood protection was not especially comforting as he continued to search the forest.

_05:30 am_

'This is pointless,' Avery grumbled. 'It's five in the morning- the sun is rising again for God's sake. There is clearly no one here.'

'I agree,' Lucius murmured. He was far more tired than Avery was; he had been going two or three times as fast in an attempt to come upon Harry before anyone else managed to get there first, but had still found nothing. 'But we must continue to do as our Master commands.'

Bellatrix nodded and got wearily to her feet, quickly Disapparating back to the East end of the forest. Lucius and Avery followed suit, shattered as they were.

_07:55am_

The Dark Mark began to burn around 8am and Lucius jerked sharply. Had Harry been found?

He didn't Apparate back to the Manor however; instead he Apparated back to the clearing where they had met before. Aver and Bella were already there, looking nervous and confused.

'It's just a general call,' Avery spoke sharply. 'He's not calling to us in particular. I say,' he swallowed nervously. 'I say we should keep searching.'

'I don't think we should stop searching just to go to our Lord o be punished for not finishing searching,' Lucius nodded. 'Bella?'

'I… I don't know,' she mumbled, frowning slightly. 'Normally he calls to each of us. But this- this is so different. It's so general. Impersonal.'

'Do you think there's a chance he has Potter?' Avery suggested. 'Maybe he wants everyone else. But if he wanted us, we'd know, wouldn't we?'

'Yes. We always know when he wants just us, right?' Lucius tried to reassure Bellatrix, who still looked unsure about not responding to the call. 'This one isn't personal at all, is it? We should keep searching. If he wants us hell call to us specifically.'

She finally nodded.

'Meet back here, what, 10ish?' Avery suggested, standing up.

'Yes,' Lucius nodded, before returning to the North. He still had about five miles to search.

_10:07am_

'Any sign?' Lucius asked Avery, trying to pretend that he cared about he answer. It was clear to him that Harry was not in this ridiculous wood. They were currently sitting opposite each other on moss covered logs, resting for the time before Bellatrix arrived. Lucius had been there first, having finished scouring his part of the forest twenty minutes beforehand. Avery had turned up from the West ten minutes before, but Bellatrix was yet to either walk or Apparate into the clearing.

'No,' Avery replied, clearly frustrated. 'We've been up all night, and nothing at all.'

They sat in silence for a little while longer.

'Where _is_ Bella?' Avery turned to stare East, as if to see if he could see her coming toward them. 'She's normally more prompt.'

'Maybe… Maybe she found something?' Lucius suggested doubtfully. 'Should we go and find her?'

'I suppose,' Avery murmured. He held his wand out on his palm.

'Point me, Bellatrix,' he said clearly and the wand settled pointing rather predictably East. 'Right then,' he nodded to Lucius and they set off in that direction.

They only had to walk for about ten minutes before they found Bellatrix, only a kilometre from the clearing.

She was lying on the ground, eyes and face screwed up in pain, her cheeks pale and tearstained.

'Is she- oh!' Avery stopped moving very suddenly before collapsing to the ground, grasping his left forearm and shrieking in pain.

'Argh! Shit, shit, SHIT, FUCK, aaaah, hell, crap, crap, FUCK! Can't you- CRAP- feel that- AAARGH- Lucius!'

Lucius watched him curiously. His own mark was tingling a bit; he'd describe it as "shivery", but it wasn't painful at all really. Tired and fed up as he was, he'd been ignoring it.

'No,' he answered, shrugging. He'd never been a friend of Avery and regarded his racked body with morbid curiousity only. 'Not really.'

'Well it bloody fucking hurts- SHIT!' He shouted before out and out screaming.

He shrieked again and again, a high wailing that then cut out abruptly. Lucius watched as Avery lifted a blackened hand to claw desperately at his similarly blackening throat until eventually his body slumped dead. His face, which wasn't black yet, looked eerily like Bellatrix's.

Lucius carefully moved forward and jerked his wand in a sharp motion. Avery's robes ripped open and the spell also made a deep slash down his torso. It was completely blackened, as if charred, and even where Lucius could now see partially inside Avery's torso his flesh was burnt and festering. Lucius suspected that Bellatrix was the same, but he spared her corpse's dignity; after all, as much as he had despised her, they were related.

Instead, Lucius knew he had to get back to the house. Whether he meant to inform his Lord or to check for the capture of his mate, Lucius was unsure. What he did know was that he was the only person in this godforsaken wood.

He tried to Apparate, but something was badly wrong; he didn't move but was instead hit with a huge wave of dizziness and nausea, and was forced to lean heavily against a tree to catch his breath and just _think._

That was a ward that shouldn't have been there. He carried the Dark Mark after all and should not have been prevented from Apparating here. Indeed, he, Bellatrix and Avery had been Apparating around the forest all night when they needed to meet up. He hadn't Apparated since 8am. Had the wards been moved that morning? But why would someone change the wards?

Had Harry been caught?

At this mind-arresting thought, Lucius' knees buckled and he slid down the tree to slump at its base in a dejected heap.

What if Harry really had been in this forest all along? What I one of those pesky werewolves had caught him, and the anti-apparition wards had been changed to stop him from getting out. To stop help from getting in. A stray thought fluttered through his mind at this idea. _Help doesn't need to get in. You're already here…_But this thought was fleeting, pushed aside by two far more powerful notions.

_I don't feel ill anymore_. Voldemort's wards would have done far more damaged to attempt to beach, _I should be in agony…_

_These aren't Voldemort's wards._ _They're someone else's. Someone very powerful, but someone else all the same._

Harry?

Could Harry have been here, could Harry have put them up? Was there a chance that Harry could be here, and could have some kind of plan?

Lucius' building excitement however, was crushed by a sharply cold throb of the Dark Mark. He rubbed it absentmindedly, trying to unconsciously ease the building pain in his let arm. Voldemort had sent out a general call; he had felt it himself, hours and hours ago now, the Dark Lord calling to all his followers. Even Harry would not be able to survive the Dark Lord and _all_ his followers.

Lucius pulled himself to his feet, suddenly determined.

'Point me, Slytherin Manor,' he spoke strongly and set off walking South. It was only a kilometre, maybe less, to the lawns and the house, then he could find his Harry and- he swallowed nervously at this part- defend him.

Very quickly Lucius regretted his having used to "Point Me" spell; he was walking through dense foliage after leaving the path a while ago. His robes were ripping, there were leaves in his hair and his handcrafted German shoes were definitely ruined. On top of everything else, the cold pain that had started in his let arm had now spread across his shoulders and neck and also his right arm. Still, the knowledge that there was a very good chance that his mate was in dire need of his help let him continue waking as fast as he could toward the manor house.

The edge of the forest was only a couple of hundred metres from the house entrance, across a large lawn, but when Lucius reached it he was not particularly encouraged. This was because three things happened at once. Firstly, he tripped over badly, secondly he went blind and thirdly the pain that had been building in his abdomen throbbed and rushed throughout his entire body now.

With a hoarse yell he fell to the ground and curled up into the foetal position. God it hurt so much, he could barely breathe yet he tried to sob. Instead he inhaled… something and started coughing weakly.

Christ, he was actually dying.

Lucius' mind flickered to how Avery and Bellatrix had died, and he shuddered as more pain wracked his body.

What a time to collapse; just when he had been trying, finally, to do the right thing and to help his mate… his Harry. All that fancy blood magic but he couldn't actually get to Harry's side when he was needed.

The terrible stabbing pin that was _cold_, too cold surely, was everywhere. Lucius was hardly able to compare it to the Cruciatus curse but somehow his subconscious thought. It wasn't worse- surely there was nothing worse than a Crucio from the Dark Lord. But this pain was so strong and so different. It was stabbing into him, searching him or something-

And while the Cruciatus caused only pain, this seemed to promise death. That death would come to him, pained, blind and alone as he was.

_Alone…_

Lucius suddenly saw a startlingly image of Harry; he was taller, broader- far more man than child now. He was planted strongly and firmly and was holding his wand out in front of him with both hands, dark brown robes protecting his body and brow furrowed in concentration as white light came spewing out of his wand, hitting Lucius square in the chest.

He was so beautiful, his mate, and Lucius' heart gave a throb of love at the image. Harry…

Lucius screeched as his body was suddenly awash with heat, beautiful, glorious heat and the image was ripped away from him.

He lay still and silent after that, panting.

The pain had ended. Miraculously, he was still alive.

Lucius carefully reached out a hand on either side of his body, patting the ground as he tried to find his wand.

Both his hands met with objects at the same time. One, in his right hand, was the familiar length of mahogany that he had been searching or. The other was a small metal canister that he clasped instinctively. He pulled it to his chest where- he could see it. Lucius looked down at his body, of which he could see less than half his torso and he could only make out his arms if he moved them. But this was very good- he wasn't actually blind. Instead, there was something impairing his vision.

The small canister was, he believed, what he had tripped over and Lucius brought it right in front of his face so he could inspect it.

It was very plain grey metal, with only one sentence printed on it: "Remember, 'Videns Bene'. Good Luck! F&G." That meant little to nothing to Lucius, but 'Videns Bene' sounded like a spell.

'Videns Bene,' he spoke clearly but doubtfully, and was slightly shocked when the thick darkness that had been surrounding him seemed to fade away to nothing until he could see perfectly clearly.

He pulled himself to his feet and set off running for the manor in front of him. He didn't pause to collect himself or even to pull the leaves from his hair; his mate needed him and now that Lucius was able to move again he was going to do his best to help him.

He stopped momentarily in the entrance hall to murmur, 'Point Me, Harry Potter!' and was shocked when his wand settled on a direction immediately. He ran along the corridors and didn't stop until he realised he was standing just outside the parlour to the throne room.

There were two more dead Death Eaters collapsed outside the locked doors, their faces screwed up and their flesh blackened and burnt.

'Point Me, Harry Potter,' Lucius repeated, and watched in dismay as the wand continued to point directly at the ornate double doors. Lucius gritted his teeth. Harry was behind these doors, and the Dark Lord was too, he was sure of it. There was no way he could just leave his mate to that.

He tried 'Alohomora' first, but wasn't surprised when it was clear that the doors were still firmly locked. He paused to think, wishing he could hear anything beyond the warded door.

He came to a decision.

'Delugo!' Lucius roared, jerking his wand sharply and carefully not flinching at the huge rush of Dark Magic that destroyed the frame and blasted the doors inwards.

He ran through the hole before the resulting dust cloud had settled, wand still drawn and mind set to do whatever was necessary, everything, _anything_ for his mate, his Harry-

Who was currently standing in the middle of the practically empty parlour, looking calm and a bit baffled.

There was no sign of the Dark Lord.

It took a couple of moments for Lucius to take in the strange scene. Harry, looking exhausted but satisfied. Hermione Granger, her hair falling out of a messy bun looking happy but wary. Ronald Weasley, obviously on edge, his wand arm extended and pointing at Severus Snape, who was dishevelled and disarmed and was leaning against the far wall, cradling his left arm and looking either incredibly shocked or sick or probably both.

Lucius' attention was brought back to him sharply when, with a small smile of contentment, Harry closed his eyes and collapsed.

**A/N I'm desperate for your opinion. Please leave a review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Sorry this has been so long- I've split what I intended to put into chapter 5 into 5 and 6, because the end has been giving me trouble and I really wanted to post. Sorry its been so long- the next one should be up much much sooner!**

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Lucius Malfoy had long since stopped attempting to get the guard to even react to him, let alone tell him what was going on. He had been in the holding cell for at least five days now, although since it was where he had woken up he couldn't be sure how much time had passed since that terrible day searching the forest on the Dark Lord's commands. 

He had attempted to get any information from the guard that was standing outside his door many times during the five days that he had been conscious for, but none of them ever even made eye contact with him, let alone tell him anything. The only thing that he could surmise was that he was being held by the Light. If it were the Dark Lord's forces, he surely would have been tortured or at least insulted, regardless of orders about talking. Moreover, the Dark Lord would not bother to leave Lucius without observing him and bragging to the wandless and helpless man.

The guards changed three times a day when they brought him meagre meals, ensuring that every time the cell was opened at all there were two armed men should he attempt to escape. Apparently they also changed at least once during the night, as the guard Lucius would wake up to was always different to the one that had been standing there, stoic and silent, outside his cell the night before.

As in the wood, the worst part was that Lucius was alone with his thoughts. He didn't even try to keep his mind away from thoughts of Harry- the Boy Who Lived had become a man since Lucius had last seen him, and to actually glance him, if only for a moment, in the flesh, had influenced him greatly. Harry was grown, strong and magically powerful. If he was to be killed, or simply left in the holding cell until he eventually died, Lucius knew he would keep those images right until the end. After he didn't know his own name his would keep holding on to the vision of Harry and the white light, and the then the vision of Harry in the chamber, looking happy. If Lucius allowed himself, he could imagine that Harry's tired but relieved expression that he had observed was directed at him, that Harry was looking happy to see Lucius.

It was while he was day dreaming those exact thoughts that his cell door swung open unexpectedly and Lucius looked up into the end of a wand. It was held by a nondescript wizard in Auror robes who was gesturing at Lucius impatiently.

'Come along then, Malfoy, we don't have all day,' he said, clearly wishing he was anywhere else.

Lucius was far more startled than he was going to let on. Five days without interacting with another person made this sudden return to communication confusing and unsettling, but mechanically Lucius refused to allow any signs of his discomfort to show on his face. Instead he simply rose and followed the Auror out of his cell.

He recognised that the bland grey walls were deep within the Ministry of Magic as they walked down a seemingly endless and infinite tangle of them, all the same with no distinguishing marks or features. The Auror led Lucius in silence, wand drawn, with the two guards behind him. He had clearly walked these halls many times to be confident that he had not taken a wrong turning at all.

By the time Lucius realised where they were and where it was that he was being taken there wasn't enough time to be scared or even angry. Instead he used his last moments of semi privacy to breathe and compose himself for the coming events. The small convoy didn't pause to allow this, so Lucius simply did what little he could to steel his nerves.

They entered the courtroom.

The chaos was far more than Lucius had envisaged. There were huge crowds seated in the public stalls that started shouting as soon as he entered. Many surged to their feet and objects were thrown at him. There were shrieks of hatred, fear, loathing. Jeers and laughter. So much sound and movement surrounded him and Lucius struggled to take it all in as he was hustled to the chair in the centre of the room with chains hanging off it.

He knew that keeping his composure was of the utmost importance, but he was not sure even what the formal charges against him were or what exactly was going on. Had the Dark Lord fallen? Or was he simply a captured Death Eater, waiting for his Lord to reclaim him? And what had happened to Bellatrix and Avery? If Harry really had been in that wood, had it been them that had attacked them? Had they discovered a curse that could burn him all the way through?

Would they use it on him?

After all, there were no Dementors any more- whether or not the Dark Lord was alive, that was proved by his accompliment to the court room by guards and an Auror rather than flanked by the disgusting and terrifying creatures. Could he still be sent to Azkaban if there were no more Dementors? Would they kill him, or perhaps leave him in a dank hole to rot-

As Lucius sat down, the magical chains animated and bound him tightly to the chair, effectively silencing his frantic mind.

'The court will come to order.' A sharp voice cut through the din and Lucius looked up at the stern face of Rufus Scrimgour, standing in front of what was clearly the entire Wizengamot. 'Lucius Malfoy, you have been charged with theft, conspiracy to use illegal magics, conspiracy to cause damage and destruction to public and private properties, conspiracy to overthrow the Ministry of Magic, conspiracy to torture, conspiracy to murder, use of illegal magics, counts of torture, counts of murder and countless acts of terrorism as a Death Eater. How do you plead- guilty or not guilty?'

'I-' Lucius faltered, confused and cursed himself for letting his weakness show in front of a crowd that only a few moments before had been baying for his blood.

'Guilty or not guilty?'

The whole room appeared only in two sections- the glare and anger radiating from the Wizengamot, seated far above him, and the hate and impatience coming from the blurred audience to his farce of a trial. He caught sight of one particular face twisted in distaste and hate and then every face appeared to be wearing the same expression and the room was so huge and echoing and crowded and he was surrounded and confused and helpless and the crowd was impatient and seemed about the pounce and all the faces everywhere all around him-

There! Ignoring the Minister of Magic's irritated call for his attention ('Mr Malfoy!') he craned his neck around, trying to find that face that his mind, his very magic, promised was there, and hadn't been a mirage. There had been _one_ he was certain-

Lucius gasped sharply and had he not been bound to the chair he might have collapsed out of it.

Harry Potter stared back at him evenly, his face showing no emotion at all.

There wasn't just the one face either. On each side of his mate were his mate's two best friends, and next to Ron Weasley was what appeared to be most of the Weasley family. Arthur and two of the sons were glaring at him like most of the crowd, but when they bent forward to murmur something to Ronald, he turned and told them something that made them stop quickly.

Behind Harry, sitting stiffly and looking blank, was Severus Snape, and next to him were Draco and Narcissa. Lucius suddenly felt a great pity for his family, struggling on and appearing dignified while he was on trial for murder and sitting through stoically while surrounded by people that hated them by association.

Harry's face, the one that had cleared his mind and calmed him, gave him the tiniest of frowns and nodded ever so slightly.

'Mr Malfoy! How do you plead?'

With great effort Lucius tore his gaze away from his mate and looked back at the angry lion like man in front and above him.

'N-Not guilty,' Lucius said, and worried that his voice was too weak that they wouldn't hear him, that he would be dragged away to gaol again.

But his Harry was there, just inside the left side off his vision though not at all in focus. His mate was watching, was interested. Did not appear to hate him.

And sitting there, back straight and dressed in full formal robes, his mate looked so adult and wonderful. He had reached maturity and was beautiful, wonderful.

The minister looked angry and impatient, clearly having hoped that Lucius would not take long. But Lucius did not care that the courtroom was full of anger and hate and disbelief that anyone could think that he wasn't guilty, because his family and greatest friend and his mate were all there and they didn't hate him.

'The Wizengamot has already heard a massive amount of the evidence against you. We will proceed with the defence testimonies then.' Rufus Scrimgour made an expansive gesture before sitting down. A small man moved forward out of the shadows and Lucius recognised his long standing lawyer, Doy.

He hoped that he was worth what he was paying for him- Lucius wasn't sure there was any way to prove his innocence. He wasn't even sure he was innocent himself.

'My client, Lucius Malfoy, has been before this court on a previous occasion,' Doy began speaking in a voice that was loud but raspy. 'In June 1996, my client pleaded guilty to several charges and carried out a sentence of 12 months in Azkaban prison. Since his release, my client has not committed any other count of wrong doing- he is here before you, accused of the acts of others, purely because he has a passed conviction. But the court should not take a prior sentence as proof of further wrong doing- rather they should acknowledge that my client has reformed and has not reoffended in the past year.

'My client has been brought here today to answer to the crime of living. This court has already confirmed the innocence of Severus Snape, another man that was brought by those seeking justice against the dead. Lucius Malfoy is in the same position- effectively on trial for being alive, and to answer for those that are dead.'

Doy paused to draw breath before turning to the side where a man nodded at him.

'I would like the court to regard the statement of Mrs Narcissa Malfoy, given to the court two days ago under Versiteserum. I would like to remind the court of the passage where Mrs Malfoy states that she has no reason to suspect that her husband has broken any laws since his release from gaol and that she believes unequivocally that he is not guilty of these charges.'

There was a rustling of papers before a few beats of silence. The Minister then bent forward and said, 'It is noted, Mr Doy. Proceed.'

'I would like to call Severus Snape,' he said. Severus stood up stiffly and Lucius watched him make his way to the witness stand. A young man in white court robes stepped forward and passed Severus a vial that he drank from, before sitting down. Lucius realised that Snape had apparently consented to questioning under Versiteserum, something that Lucius didn't think he had ever seen his friend do.

The room silenced as Severus sat and Doy began to question him in his reedy voice.

'Are you Severus Snape, of Hogwarts School and Spinner's End?'

'Yes.' Snape didn't snap the answer, but he offered nothing more or less than the bare truth.

'How long have you known the defendant?'

'Approximately 22 years.'

Doy nodded and straightened his crooked back slightly.

'Are you a Death Eater?'

'No.'

Murmurs broke out in the audience.

'Were you a Death Eater?' Doy continued.

'Yes.'

'But you are no longer a Death Eater?'

'No.'

'Why is this?'

'The Dark Lord and his followers are dead.'

'All of them?'

Severus hesitated, and Lucius realised that there was no clear truthful answer that he knew.

'I believe so.'

'Why?'

'All the marked Death Eaters are dead. I do not know whether there are any Death Eaters that were not marked that may still live. I do not believe that the Dark Lord would have not marked any of his human followers, but I cannot be certain.'

'You have spent several years as a spy in the Death Eaters, correct?'

'Yes.'

'Did you send any length of time with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?'

'Yes.'

'Could you estimate how much time, approximately?'

'Not accurately.' Snape paused. 'Some times only minutes, sometimes hours. Occasionally I spent entire days in his presence.'

'Did others spend the same amount of time around him?'

'No.'

'Why do you believe this was?'

Snape scowled. 'I was greatly favoured.'

'How well would you say that you knew He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?'

'As well as could be expected. Better than any other.'

'And you believe that he would not have left his followers without the Dark Mark?'

'I do.'

'Is there any reason that you can think of that may have caused him not to mark any of his followers?'

'No.'

'And all of the marked Death Eaters, excepting yourself and the defendant, are now dead.'

'Yes.'

Doy paused, contemplatively.

'Do you know how the other Death Eaters died, Mr Snape?'

'Not entirely. Their bodies are burnt, inside and out, and have no remaining magical properties, but I do not know what caused this.'

'Did you witness the Death of any Death Eaters?'

'Yes.'

'Could you please explain the circumstances and what happened to the court please?'

Snape paused and cleared his throat.

'On the 20th June, I was brewing a special potion within the Dark Lord's Manor House. It was very complex, and I had started very early in the morning, before 2am. I completed the first stage at quarter to six at which point I began the very sensitive second stage that would last a further five hours.

'The Dark Mark on my arm began to burn at around 8am. The signal was different than usual, and I did not respond to it as I usually would have done because of the potion. The Dark Lord understood its use and how much time it needed and so I made the decision to continue with the potion. The signal stopped after a while.

'Around 10am the Mark began to pulse. It was a different sensation to normal- a gentle, fluttering feeling. I continued to ignore it.

'However, half an hour later the pain increased dramatically. I was unable to control myself and the potion was ruined. The pain and magic that rushed through me was terrible. I believed that I was dying.

'The pain passed, and I left my lab since the potion was ruined. I hear screams and ran toward them. When I arrived, I saw there was a Death Eater screaming- his comrade was trying to help him but could not understand what was happening. As I watched, he two began shrieking, although he had not been cursed or spelled. They blackened before my eyes.

'I entered the Dark Lord's ante chamber, to discovered Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger surrounded by Death Eaters. The Death Eaters were mainly dad or passing through the last stage into death. Weasley and Granger were standing back to back- they appeared confused and defensive, and I believed that they had been fighting off the Death Eaters and preventing them from entering the next chamber before they had all died. I did not believe they had caused the deaths.

'Weasley disarmed me, but before we could speak, Harry Potter entered the room. He seemed dazed but claimed that the Dark Lord was dead. Lucius Malfoy then also entered the ante chamber. He appeared to have been running and had expended a lot of magical power to enter the room. I was intrigued that Lucius and I appeared to be the only Death Eaters that had survived the Dark Lord, and did not notice Potter fainting. It was at this point that Weasley and Granger stunned Malfoy and I.'

Doy nodded.

'Do you know why you and the defendant survived, Mr Snape?'

'No.'

'Does anybody know?'

Snape scowled again.

'I am not certain. However, I believe that Harry Potter may know.'

'Mr Snape, since his release from Azkaban prison, have you been aware of the defendant breaking any laws?'

Snape paused to think.

'No.'

'No further questions.'

Doy stepped back and another man approached the stand, presumably the prosecutor. He was much taller than Doy and was smirking slightly as he approached Severus.

'Mr Snape, you have the Dark Mark, do you not?'

'I do.'

'So why do you believe that you are not a Death Eater?'

Snape looked affronted.

'Because the Death Eaters are dead, and I am not.'

'I don't believe that means that you are not a Death Eater, Mr Snape. I believe that you are simply a Death Eater that is alive. And I believe the same of the defendant.' He paused. 'What exactly did you do for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Mr Snape?'

'I made potions for him.'

'Nothing else?'

'There were a few other tasks over the years, but I do not remember them all.'

'Were you often doing the same "tasks" as the defendant?'

'Not usually, no.'

'Were you always at the same meetings with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named as the defendant?'

'No.'

'If the defendant was there, were you always aware of him?'

'No.'

'So really there is no way you can give an accurate testimony as to what exactly the defendant did for the Dark Lord.' He paused again. 'This court has already come to the decision that you are not guilty of the crimes that the defendant is accused of, Mr Snape, so I have to assume that your "tasks" from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, that you did not do with the defendant, were not illegal in nature. Which means of course that the defendant was not given such innocent tasks as you Mr Snape, correct?'

'I suppose.'

'And He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did not allow his servants to discuss their separate tasks, correct?'

'Yes.'

'So in truth, there is very little information that you would be able to give this court that is more than speculation on the subject of what exactly the defendant did on the orders of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, correct?'

'…Yes.' Snape was glaring angrily but had to answer.

'No further questions.'

Lucius hated the bite of the chains more than ever at that moment. Doy walked forward again.

'Mr Snape, you were not there when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was killed, correct?'

'That is correct.'

'But you are absolutely certain that he is dead?'

'Yes, I am.'

'And why is this?'

Lucius saw Snape scowl slightly, but he didn't hesitate.

'Harry Potter says he is dead, and my Mark is inactive. I am certain that he is dead.'

'And you are certain that all Marked Death Eaters, except for yourself and Mr Malfoy, are also dead?'

'Yes.'

'And you know this because…?'

Snape scowl even more and practically snarled his answer.

'Harry Potter believes this and I believe that he is correct.'

'No further questions. You may step down.' Doy paused as Snape walked stiffly back to his seat before speaking again. 'I would like to call Harry Potter.'

**A/N Please leave a review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N Sorry this took so long, I've had exams and a massive attack of RL and writer's block over the last few months. Better late than never! On with the chapter...

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A swift ripple of noise travelled around the room, dying as suddenly as it had begun, but Lucius could barely hear it- his mate that had been sitting so still on the very edge of his vision had risen and was walking confidently toward the front of the courtroom.

He was glorious. Lucius tried not to make it too obvious that he couldn't pull his eyes off Harry, while also drinking in every little detail- the way his legs and hips moved as he walked, the tiny embroideries on his robes, the exact shape of his gorgeous green eyes. He was so relieved that as Harry sat down in the witness box he was where Lucius could see him clearly rather than a blurred shape that he could barely make out.

Lucius realised why Doy had waited before calling Harry, as his mate did not consume any Versiteserum.

'Are you Harry Potter, of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black?'

Lucius started- his mate was living in the Black house? Narcissa hadn't been back there for years, but his mate was there most days? But Harry wasn't surprised and he didn't pause.

'Yes.'

'How do you know the defendant?'

'We met when I was twelve. He insulted me and started a fight. We met again after he nearly caused the death of Ginny Weasley.'

Lucius closed his eyes in horror. To hear Harry, wonderful Harry, explain the few times they had met in such calm and collected terms was terrible. And the audience was of course hanging on his every word. How was reminding the public of how he had been blind to his mate and their apparent saviour meant to be a defence witness?

However, Harry continued in his calm cool tones.

'We met again a little over a year later at the Quidditch world cup. He threatened my friends and I. When I next met him, I was tied to a gravestone, witnessing Voldemort's rebirth with the other Death Eaters.'

The courtroom was totally silent.

'We met twice when I was fifteen- I saw him in the ministry when I was here for a hearing, and again in the Department of Mysteries the summer of 1996.'

'When did you next meet Mr Malfoy, Mr Potter?'

'Six days ago, at Voldemort's Manor. After vanquishing Voldemort, I briefly saw Mr Malfoy before passing out.'

Doy nodded.

'You gave an interview, Mr Potter, in which you claimed that Mr Malfoy was a Death Eater. When that interview was given, did you believe Mr Malfoy to be a Death Eater?'

'Yes.'

'When the interview was published, first in the Quibbler and later in the Daily Prophet, did you believe Mr Malfoy to be a Death Eater?'

'Yes.'

'Mr Potter, do you believe that Mr Malfoy is a Death Eater?'

Lucius could feel the tension of the court even as he held himself completely still, his eyes fixed straight at his mate.

'No, I do not.'

A single beat of silence was followed by utter chaos.

Lucius flinched as the press section to his right let off the noise of several continuous explosions as they all rushed to take photos, the journalists screaming questions regardless of the proper etiquette of the courtroom. Over the din of the reporters, the noise of the crowd that had been so silent a few moments ago rose from cautious whispers to impatient shouting to each other to outraged shrieks and curses.

The tension that had been so palatable had snapped abruptly and Lucius found himself at the eye of a very angry storm- in front of him the Wizengamot was either whispering amongst itself about the case or making outraged noises about the lack of respect in the now frenzied courtroom.

The cacophony of noise was only silenced again when the blast of a cannon issued from the wand of the Minister for Magic, who was shaking with rage at the disruption.

'There will be no more of that.' He said, his voice only just under control, resonating with barely restrained anger. 'Mr Doy, please continue the examination of your witness.'

Mr Doy looked slightly shaken at the force of the court's reaction but nodded and turned back to Harry, who was the calmest person in the room. Lucius kept his eyes fixed tightly upon his mate and the picture of strength that he provided, sitting up straight and projecting an air of being collected and unhurried.

'Mr Potter,' Doy began again tentatively, 'you believe that Mr Malfoy is not currently a Death Eater despite your previous belief that Mr Malfoy was a Death Eater?'

'Yes, that is correct.'

Mr Doy straightened, apparently regaining his confidence as Harry's failed to waver.

'Do you believe that Mr Malfoy should be punished further to the twelve months he has already spent in Azkaban prison?'

'No, I do not.'

'Can you explain why you believe this to be the case?'

Harry's voice was clear and unwavering and his eyes flickered from resting on Do to regard Lucius, and the briefest eye contact flashed between them as Harry continued.

'Lucius Malfoy is not loyal to Voldemort.'

Lucius closed his eyes for the first time since Harry took to the stand, briefly breaking his previously unwavering gaze at his mate, and allowed the briefest flicker of hope to warm through him. He didn't know how or why, but his mate believed in his innocence, innocence that Lucius had been unsure of himself.

'How strongly do you believe this?' Doy asked quickly, an invitation for Harry to hammer his point home, and harry's answer did not disappoint, simple syllables resonating around the shocked court.

'I am certain.'

Doy gave a moment now for that statement to settle before starting again.

'Why do you believe that is the case, Mr Potter?'

'All those loyal to Voldemort, all those that carried his mark on their arm and his magic in their hearts, are dead.' Harry's voice betrayed his emotions for the first time, fierce and determined as he was.

'I have seen their bodies; I have witnessed their deaths. It is not possible for Voldemort to return, I promise you all, and as surely as he is dead so are all those loyal to him.'

Doy's next question was spoken softly compared to Harry's forceful statement.

'Mr Potter, is it not possible for one who is loyal to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to have outlived him?'

'No, it is not.'

'Do you know why this is?'

As Harry paused to find the right words, Lucius stared, unblinking and nearly unbelieving at his mate, that small warmth of faint hope swelling again.

'The Dark Mark linked Voldemort to his Death Eaters much more than I believe he ever revealed to them.' Harry explained. 'As I fought him he used it to reap their magic - he had a link directly to their magical cores, to their very souls, and in his fear and greed he used it to take their magic to bolster his own. Their magic not being enough, he then took their very lives in a last attempt to sustain his own.

'My final spell against him severed the link that had existed between us, but before that could occur it brought us closer together. I could feel as clearly as he could the magical cores and lives that were willingly linked to his, and I felt as his power reached out and took and took and took, all that it could, magic and thought and life.

'He started with the closest, the easiest targets, and those were the magics of the servants that were most devoted to him, their very souls closer to him- the very first was Bellatrix Lestrange and I felt her fear and her pain as Voldemort took everything of her, destroyed her in his ruthlessness, in his selfishness, and it was her own loyalty to him that allowed it, that brought about her painful and bewildering death.

'Every option was sought and burnt and destroyed, every loyal servant that had pledged to die for him did, and when he tried to take my magic I destroyed him.

'That Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy survive, live and breathe, is testament to their not being loyal to Voldemort, to their not putting him or his cause or his life or what he meant to them at an kind of priority. Severus Snape I personally knew to be a spy, secretly devoted to the downfall of Voldemort, the last to be approached by Voldemort's magic in desperation and refused by Snape's lack of faithfulness to the cause, to Voldemort himself.

'This is not something that could be faked, this kind of primal, base magic not the kind of thing that can be tricked. I cannot say that I understand Lucius Malfoy, but I do understand that he had rejected Voldemort long before Voldemort fell, that his loyalty and his faith are both held elsewhere, that he is not a Death Eater.'

The court swelled in noise again as Harry finished speaking, but this time Lucius kept his eyes and his attention fixed firmly on his mate, his Harry, his defender. He had not understood what was happening at the time, but now, now the fire that had burnt Bellatrix and Avery from the inside out in that awful wood made sense. The great pain that had crippled him at the edge of the lawn that had been cold and searching had been gauging his loyalty, his usefulness, his suitability to die for the Dark Lord and he had survived then only by his love for his mate.

Harry's words returned to him, _his loyalty and his faith are both held elsewhere_ and Lucius desperately wanted to be able to hold Harry and tell him that it was to him, his mate, to his Harry alone that he was loyal, that he was totally faithful in his love and that his devotion was entire.

Doy smiled and nodded.

'No further questions.'

Lucius was pleased to see that when the prosecutor stepped forward to cross-examine Harry he was not looking nearly as smug as he had been before Snape.

'Mr Potter, you have decided not to take a dose of Versiteserum before giving your testimony today. Why is that?'

'The magic I used to vanquish Voldemort is dangerous.' Harry replied evenly. 'Moreover, the magic Voldemort used that reduced my options in vanquishing him is the darkest of the dark. While I am sure no one in this court would understand quite how powerful and dangerous this magic and the information about how to use it is, I refuse to take the risk that I might speak of it if someone asked a badly phrased question while I was under the influence of Versiteserum.'

The prosecutor tilted his head to the side slightly, as if he did not understand Harry.

'You believe that you hold knowledge that is too powerful for this court to hear?' he asked. 'That you have knowledge that must be kept from the general public?'

'Yes.' Harry looked slightly annoyed but still answered calmly, if abruptly.

'Is there information that you see fit to hide from, not the Wizarding Public, but this highest of courts Mr Potter?'

'Yes, there is.'

'Well. If you see fit, Mr Potter, I would like you to answer- seventeen years ago Lucius Malfoy proclaimed his innocence, indeed proved his innocence, yet you believe and personally testified that he went on to attempted murder on several counts, breaking and entering, conspiracy and torture in the name of and on the orders of You-Know-Who. Why should we believe that he is different? Why should we believe that the third time an accused Death Eater is in this court is the time he is innocent?'

Harry eyes showed his anger as he ground out his answer.

'That he is alive at all to be here a third time proves that he is innocent.'

The prosecutor sneered slightly.

'Or perhaps it means that he has just managed to trick you, Mr Potter, hmm? Did you consider that when you suddenly found you had blind faith in a man that you personally have stated has tried to kill you, and more than once? Don't you think that it is more likely that this man, who has tricked this court before and evaded punishment or serving a full term in Azkaban, has managed to trick you, Mr Potter?'

Harry opened his mouth angrily but the prosecutor did not give him enough time to answer, pausing only very briefly before continuing.

'Mr Potter, ladies and gentlemen, Lucius Malfoy has deceived this court before. He has pleaded innocence and gone on to threaten individual lives and our society as a whole. Mr Potter, you have served the Wizarding World beyond what could be expected of you and we are very grateful for your heroic deed in ridding our world of the tyrant You-Know-Who. But your testimony is unsubstantiated, based only upon your assumption that the court will accept your strength of belief in place of evidence while admitting that you are willing to and in fact are hiding information from us. Ladies and gentlemen of the Wizengamot, this man has deceived us before, has attempted to escape the justice of this court, and he must not be allowed to do so again!'

The courtroom broke out into shouts of agreement so loud that the prosecutor's final statement- 'No further questions.'- could only just be heard. Harry's eyes flashed dangerously as the prosecutor turned away, smug once more, but that he didn't act further or lose his composure proved that Harry was no longer the rash boy he had been. Instead he walked back to his seat rigidly, and Lucius once again could only just glimpse his mate in his peripheral vision.

This time the court was easier to calm, silencing when the Minister for Magic got to his feet.

'That is the total extent of your case, Mr Doy?' he asked carefully.

'Yes, sir,' replied Doy and Lucius felt that glow of hope weaken and fade as he realised that he was about to be judged.

'Very well,' the Minister straightened up fractionally more before turning to the other members of the Wizengamot. 'All those that would find the defendant, Mr Lucius Malfoy, guilty as charged, raise your hand.'

Like a blow, Lucius would have staggered if the chains holding him upright in the chair had allowed it as many hands shot up straight away. The court held its breath and the Minister waited patiently as slowly a few more hands rose to join those already outstretched. Lucius, far below the raised chairs, was unable to count them properly and could not tell whether or not there was a majority against him or not.

'And all those that would find the defendant, Mr Lucius Malfoy, innocent of the charges against him, raise your hand.' The Minister's solemn voice and the swift change as hands that had been up were pulled down and hands that had been down shot up into the air made Lucius jump slightly. Were there more hands now? They were dispersed more, he couldn't count, as even as he tried he forgot where the other hands had been, was unable to tell I someone had abstained or voted against him.

As the Minister for Magic turned around to face the court once again Lucius sat up as much as the chains around his arms would allow.

'We, the Wizengamot, have reached a decision. We have found the defendant, Lucius Malfoy, to be guilty as charged. He is sentenced to five years in Azkaban prison. Take him away.'

Lucius couldn't hear the shouts of anger or the screams of approval now- only one word resonated inside him _guilty guilty guilty _and when the escort of Aurors moved forward and the chains supporting him released his body he collapsed forward _guilty guilty guilty_ on to the cold stone floor. The escort surrounded him and pulled him to his feet but he couldn't see them, couldn't acknowledge their faces as he desperately searched the crowd for his mate, his Harry, he couldn't see him and he was _guilty guilty guilty_…

He tried to make eye contact with a flash of bright green but his vision was blurred and he passed out before he could focus on his mate's beautiful face once more.

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**A/N Your reviews really are appreciated, so please leave one!**


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